So I am going to start a new campaign, and setting it in the sequel era, immediately post The Last Jedi.

My Mcguffin is going to be the distress call Leia put out at the end....

Here are the things I want to incoportate...

PCs start in a small outpost world, where word of teh Republic's demise and rise of the First Order is just trickling in... basically, there world is so insignificant, the magnitude of what's going on hasn't really impacted them at all....

somewhere, a transmission is intercepted by a crime lord... it's corrupted, damaged by radiation (I read this happening to transmissions in the new Bloodline book, regarding Luke sending Leia transmissions about Ben's progress in the Jedi academy).... A benefactor asks the PCs to find this recording and bring it back to him....

I know the elements I want in it, having trouble piecing together a story. Help me Rancor PIt, you're my only hope.

It's sounding like you want the PCs to get the transmission from the crime lord?

If so, I would say you need a few things:

1) A time limit. The benefactor must be under pressure to not only deliver the transmission to it's intended destination, but he must also be "on the run" (or something else... maybe he's terminally ill and needs to get the message out before he gets so sick that he can't do it--this would be a decent reason for why the PCs have to: have him help them in some way, and they will feel obligated to return the favor by delivering the message in his stead).

2) A recon adventure. The PCs should figure out some way to gather information about what they are up against. This "crime lord"? Is he a criminal by First Order standards, or by the New Republic standards? This may affect his interactions with the PCs.

3) The heist/raid/infiltration. Execute the plan. Adjust as needed.

4) The escape. This would be the culminating event where the PCs must overcome this arc's BBEG before delivering the message to wherever it's going and moving onto the next arc.

5) The segue. You need to leave something unfinished that will put the next part of the story into motion. Alternatively, you could introduce at the last second a character or circumstance that the PCs had no way of knowing about which complicates their immediate future, despite the successful delivery of the message.

Thank... so yeah, basically here's what I have.... I think I want to start the group in some backwater planet... they work there for a mine, or something similar.... totally nondescript... their boss is asked by "his boss' boss..." to send someone to retrieve this recording... time is of the essence.... i am toying with the idea of a Hutt having it (in his warped mind wants to elevate the hutts to their former glory, and feels this recording may get him in the good graces of the First Order)... so the PCs have to go get it from this Hutt.... I've designed some Hutt stuff before for previous games, I may take from that, one runs a spice den on Nar Shadda... another runs an underground fight club.... The PCs have to infiltrate and get the recording from the Hutt.... then make off with the recording, perhaps the First Order themselves, or a hired Bounty Hunter comes after them for it.... All roads in this era basically lead to "rebuilding a rebellion" so we'll see where I can take this.

You're at 34 ABY. The Battle of Crait has just taken place, and the First Order has for all intents and purposes been victorious - in the sense that they did win the Battle of Crait.

I think you're looking at Nal Hutta (Evocar). Steal graphics and what have you from SWTOR - Star Wars The Old Republic. In fact, even steal complete characters and plot lines unless your players are familiar with SWTOR.

There's mines on Nal Hutta, complete with mining droids and whatnots as well as an environmental disaster orchestrated by the greed of the Hutts. There's mad scientists connected to Nal Hutta. There's a space port where there can be a firefight with agents associated with the First Order.

You may also use this opportunity to give the player characters a ship - either a First Order shuttlecraft or light transport of some kind, or a Huttese cargo ship. (They wouldn't steal the ship of some poor working schmuck, now would they?)